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[Self-portrait of Antoine François Jean Claudet and his son Henri Posed with His Invention, The Focimeter]

Creator

French Photographer · 1797–1867

DaguerreotypistMakerArtist

Banker and businessman Antoine Claudet learned of the new daguerreotype process in 1839 from its inventor Jacques Louis Mandé Daguerre. Claudet promptly purchased a license to practice the fledgling art. He opened his studio in 1841 and became one of only two operators of daguerreotype studios in England. Claudet actively experimented with the daguerreotype medium, becoming one of the first practi

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Date: about 1851–1853
Medium: Stereographic daguerreotype
Culture: French
Department: Photographs
Institution: Getty Museum

Antoine Claudet, who learned the daguerreotype process from Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre himself, poses with his son Francis in the richly appointed studio setting that was a trademark of his stereographic portraits. The lush detail of tasseled curtains, parrot, decorated vase, and focimeter--a device to measure distance in order to determine focus--undoubtedly provided a striking effect when the image was viewed in three dimensions through the stereograph viewer. Part of an experiment to measure exact distances in the studio as indicated by the white placard reading "8 IN / 22 feet" in the lower left corners, this portrait underscores Claudet's efforts to ensure the sharp definition of the stereograph image.

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